The microwave spectra and molecular structures of (E)-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene and its complex with the argon atom

Abstract The microwave spectra of four isotopologues of (E)-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene, which has been proposed as a refrigerant alternative with a low global warming potential and also finds use as a foaming agent, and additionally the spectra of four isotopologues of the complex formed between argon and (E)-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene are obtained in the 5.3 – 21.1 GHz region using a combination of broadband chirped pulse and Balle-Flygare cavity Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. The argon atom is determined to occupy a position out of the symmetry plane of the tetrafluoropropene where it can interact most strongly with the in-plane fluorine atom of the fluoromethyl group and carbon atom C1. This contrasts to the previously studied argon-2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene complex where the argon atom interacts most strongly with an out-of-plane fluorine atom and that attached to the olefinic carbon.